


Heaven Must be Missing an Angel

by TracyK



Category: Wynonna Earp (TV)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-07
Updated: 2016-08-01
Packaged: 2018-07-22 02:44:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,651
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7416520
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TracyK/pseuds/TracyK
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This is my first fanfic in a VERY long time. Be gentle. Or not. Whatever floats your boat. Nicole learns about the revs from Wynonna, in this one, not Doc. It just flowed better for this particular fic.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

She checked the time on her phone, frowning into the glow cast by the rectangular screen. Seven minutes had ticked by. Seven additional minutes to mark the nearly hour and a half she’d waited at the restaurant’s bar. How many times does the maître de have to ask you if you’ve changed your mind about your dining plans, before you acknowledge you’ve been stood up? Apparently, the magic number is four.

Nicole Haught settled her tab with the barmaid, and gathered her phone and clutch, before sliding from the richly appointed leather stool. The silk of her midnight black dress clung to her like a second skin, and as she passed through the lobby of the restaurant, several patrons were entranced by the sway of her hips.

Her three phone calls to Waverly Earp had gone unanswered. In fact, the last one went straight to voice mail, indicating the phone had been switched off. Even the texts, sent throughout the evening, had gone unread.

Nicole’s quiet confidence served her well in her career, and although she tended to have awful luck picking love interests, Waverly was different. The youngest Earp sister had opened a place in Nicole’s heart that would forever lie barren in the absence of Waverly’s presence.

God it was hard to ignore the insecurity that bubbled to the surface, insisting that Waverly simply stood her up. Nicole shook her head as she opened the restaurant’s front door, stepping into the unseasonably cool night air. No, Waverly wouldn’t stand someone up. She isn’t wired that way. Unfortunately, that thought didn’t offer much solace. If Waverly hadn’t intentionally missed their date, and hadn’t called to cancel, then something was wrong.

“God, I’m an idiot,” Nicole hissed through teeth that refused to chatter in the cold, for the fear that was beginning to settle, low in her belly.

As she approached the valet stand, she pulled the claim ticket and a ten-dollar bill from her clutch. Without a word she gave the stunned teenager her ticket and the cash and grabbed her truck key from the peg-board.

“Wait! You can’t-,” was all she could hear of his panicked voice as she ran to the parking area.

Nicole pressed the alarm button on the key fob in her right hand, so she could see where her truck was parked, while she scrolled through her cell phone’s contact list with her left.

“Yo. You better not be defiling my sister.” 

“Wynonna, please,” the desperation was plain in Nicole’s voice.

“Nic, what’s wrong?”

“When was the last time you saw Waverly?”

“I don’t know. This morning I guess,” was her confused answer, but Wynonna didn’t like where this conversation was going. “Nicole… Waverly left the homestead before lunch. I assumed she was doing whatever it is you two do together.” Peacemaker was already in its holster, strapped snuggly to her hip, but damn it all to hell she couldn’t find her keys.

“No, she had to work today. We were supposed to meet at Anton’s at seven for dinner.”

“Work where? When the hell did she get another job? I swear to God she doesn’t tell me anything.”

Nicole took as calming a breath as she could muster, while she navigated the busy Metro streets, “Unless I’ve slipped into some fucked up time warp, Waverly took the day shift at Shorty’s so we could have dinner tonight.”

“No, no, no. Nicole,” Wynonna paused, to collect her thoughts, because they were spiraling south, faster than a freshly shot revenant. “Nicole, there’s no way in hell Waverly would go to Shorty’s. Bobo Del Ray owns that bar, now.”

“What?! Does Waverly know that? Because I’m telling you Wyn, that’s where she went today. God damn it, I’m gonna be sick.” Nicole clenched the steering wheel tighter with each car she passed. Her mind was a vortex of nightmarish images. All Nicole knew about Bobo Del Ray was that he was suspected of running guns through Purgatory for an outfit south of Valdosta. This isn’t happening. Bobo owns Shorty’s. Waverly went to the bar for her shift. No one’s been in touch with her her all day.

“Nicole!” Wynonna’s voice finally reached her friend’s brain, giving her something else to concentrate on.

“Wynonna. I can’t… I can’t lose her,” Nicole’s words were strangled and she was barely reigning in a sob that would choke her completely.

“You aren’t losing her, Nicole! God damn it, I will fuck him up. Listen to me, Nic. Meet me at the pool hall, around the corner from Shorty’s. We’re bringing her home. If I have to shove the barrel of my gun up every revenant’s ass…”

Nicole cut her off, “What the hell is a revenant?”

Shit. Wynonna tried, and failed, to keep the sigh to herself, “Ok. Short version. Demons are real. I’m the only one who can kill them. Bobo Del Ray is their douche-canoe of a leader. He has a hard-on for me, and I’m guessing he’s using Waverly as bait.”

Silence. “I’ll meet you at the pool hall,” and the line went dead.

“Fuck.” Wynonna pocketed her phone, decided it would be quicker to hotwire her truck than try to find her keys, and bolted out the front door.

******

Nicole was already pulling into Purgatory, proper, when she’d disconnected the call with Wynonna, so she arrived at the pool hall ahead of the Earp sister whose ass she planned to kick. Parking near the back of the dark lot, Nicole cut the lights and engine and climbed in the back of the crew cab so she could dig through her Go Bag for a pair of jeans and a long sleeved shirt. Her Danner Marine boots would be a hell of a lot more sensible than the heels she left her apartment in. Once she had them laced up, she actually felt a little more grounded. Once a Marine, always a Marine.

Nicole got back into the driver’s seat, and reluctantly waited for Wynonna. She had to admit, that Wynonna picked the perfect location. They wouldn’t have a visual on the bar, but no one from the bar would have a visual on them either. They’d be able to hug the business fronts on their approach, staying in the shadows, and not have to reveal themselves until they were at the front door. A stealthy maneuver was definitely the best option.

“What the f…” Nicole jerked upright as a truck hurtled its way into the lot, kicking up a mess of gravel and dust that rivaled the only, tornado she’d ever experienced. Fishtailing her truck to a stop, Wynonna jumped out before it barely rocked to a complete standstill.

“C’mon, lets go,” was all Wynonna offered before heading in the direction of Shorty’s.

“Wynonna, wait! What’s the plan?” Nicole had to jog to catch up to the other woman.

“We’re gonna kick the god damned door in and get my sister. You in?”

Nicole couldn’t help but smile and give a half shake of her head. “Like Flynn.”

******

Wynonna Earp certainly did not disappoint. The bar’s front door blew inward, taking two drunken, tattooed behemoths with it.

“Bobo Del Ray! Where the hell is my sister?” Wynonna strode into the bar, with Nicole at her side.

“Wynonna?” Waverly’s tired voice sounded from the other side of the bar, but Nicole couldn’t see her.

“Waverly?” Nicole was in Cop-Mode and she refused to let her fear control her voice.

“Oh for Christ’s Sake. Now that we’ve all been introduced, let me welcome the Earp Heir to my fine establishment.” To the honest-to-god sound of hissing, Bobo Del Ray vaulted himself over the bar to land several feet from Wynonna and Nicole. “I see you’ve decided to come join the party, Wynonna. And you even brought a friend.”

Bobo sidled up to Nicole and inhaled deeply, before clamping his teeth together like he was trying to bite some unseen piece of flesh.

“Not just a friend, I see. It would seem, young Waverly has claimed you for her own, Miss…”

“Officer. Officer Nicole Haught.” Nicole refused to cower to the man before her. “By the way, that’s creepy as fuck that you can… smell the fact that I’ve been claimed.”

“Mmm. I see you don’t deny it.”

Nicole opened her mouth to speak, but a low growl interrupted her. “Where is my sister? You bring her to me, or I swear to…”

“You’ll do nothing! This is my bar. My party. My rules! Waverly is in the partying spirit, you see. She’s keeping my friends company over by the pool tables.”

Nicole nearly launched herself at Bobo, “You son of a bitch!” Before she could close the distance though, Bobo raised his hand and she was flung backward into Wynonna.

“Bobo, no!”

Wynonna managed to keep Nicole on her feet while she scanned the area of the pool tables, and sure enough, Waverly Earp was strapped to a chair atop the table in the furthest corner.

Oh my god. She looks so small. Wynonna’s mind was trying to play two steps ahead of the situation, but at the same time Waverly called out again for Bobo not to hurt them, Nicole spotted her.

“Wav? Oh, god baby. It’s gonna be okay.” There was no way to keep the tremble from her voice now. Nicole’s eyes filled with tears as she took in the sight of her girlfriend, bound to a chair, surrounded by what could only be the revenants Wynonna spoke of earlier.

“Nicole? No! You have to leave. Wynonna, please, make her leave. You both have to go.”

“Not gonna happen, baby girl.”

“What do you want?” There was an icy cold to Nicole’s voice. The makings of a plan had taken root and once planted, she would be sure to harvest it to her favor. The only thing that mattered to Nicole was Waverly’s release. She would make sure that Wynonna got herself and Waverly out of the bar, and as far away from Bobo Del Ray as possible.

“Wynonna knows what I want.”

“You aren’t getting my gun, asshole.”

“What is it with that gun?” Nicole spared an exasperated glance at Wynonna and the look she received in return told her all she needed to know. Wynonna had said she was the only one who could kill the revenants. The gun was the key. Plan modification. Nicole would need to be sure Wynonna left with Waverly and the gun. That was the sisters’ only defense against these shit-tickets.

Nicole approached Bobo until she was within striking distance. She didn’t lash out, though, and he wasn’t surprised. He could sense her determination, and a spark of respect flittered in his mind.

“She’s not going to give you the gun, Bobo. If she has to, she’ll just try to shoot her way out.”

“She won’t shoot. I’m holding the only card that matters to her.”

“You really willing to take the chance that she doesn’t at least try and make a stand? The first shot will be at your head, Bobo. I’m guessing if she takes you out, the rest of your little band of heathen boy scouts will fall like a house of cards.” The conversation between Nicole and Bobo was truly for their ears only. Wynonna couldn’t hear what was being said.

Bobo, cocked his head like a curious puppy. “You have my attention. What do you propose?”

“Let me trade places with Waverly. You let Wynonna and Waverly leave the bar, with the gun. No bloodshed. You and your pals get to live to see another day. Or whatever, it is demons do.”

“And how does that benefit me? Do tell.”

“Like you said, Waverly marked me as her own. She’ll figure out a way to convince Wynonna to hand over the gun, to secure my release. Wynonna Earp’s a smart cookie. She’ll figure out a way to get you the gun and get herself and Waverly out of town. You’ll have what you want, and they’ll be safe.”

“What about you Officer… Haught?” Bobo chomped at the air again, causing Nicole’s steely reserve to waver, only slightly.

“That doesn’t matter. You can do with me, whatever you want. I just want Waverly safe.”

Bobo searched Nicole’s soulful eyes for any sign of insincerity, and saw stony determination, and something else. Something he hadn’t seen since…

“Done!” Bobo spared a glance and a snap of his fingers to a troll of a man behind the bar. The man didn’t hesitate. He lumbered to the back corner of the bar, and pulled Waverly, chair and all, from the pool table. From his right hip he unsheathed a Bowie knife. Nicole tensed, but held steady. The barkeep leaned down and sliced the ropes that bound Waverly to the chair.

Nicole released the breath she didn’t realize she was holding, and watched as Waverly tried to stand. She tightened her hands into fists and drilled a stare into Bobo that made him cock his head, before he snapped his fingers again, and the barkeep picked Waverly up and carried her to where Wynonna stood.

As he passed her, Nicole held out a hand to slow his approach. The barkeep looked, questioningly at Bobo, who nodded his head once. The barkeep stopped, and Nicole leaned forward to place her hand on the side of Waverly’s face.

“I love you baby. Don’t you ever forget that; with every ounce of who I am, I love you.” The words were whispered so only Waverly could hear, and once spoken, Nicole leaned in further and placed an achingly gentle kiss to her salvation’s lips.

Nicole stepped back so the barkeep could take Waverly to her sister. Turning her back on Bobo, she watched as Waverly’s feet were lowered to the ground, and she was relieved to see that Waverly was able to stand, and appeared steady on her feet.

Wynonna wrapped her arms around her sister, as if to shield her from all the evil in the room.

“Wyn?”

“It’s okay Wav, we got a plan.” Wynonna’s words seemed to reassure Waverly as she allowed herself to be led toward the front of the bar.

Nicole’s back was still turned on Bobo. “Wynonna?”

Wynonna stopped her retreat, momentarily, and furrowed her brow in question. Waverly was still clutched in one arm, which freed up her other hand to hold peacemaker at the ready.

With a determined resolve, Nicole spoke calmly, yet decisively, “I don’t give a rat’s ass what you do with that gun, but you get Waverly the hell out of Purgatory, and don’t you dare look back.”

Nicole’s words seemed to ignite something in Waverly, as she began struggling within the circle of Wynonna’s arm.

“No! Nicole don’t! Don’t you dare!!”

The harder Waverly struggled, the stronger Wynonna’s embrace became. It was a battle of wills, which Wynonna was damn sure she was going to win. Wynonna looked Nicole in the eyes and conveyed her promise to keep Waverly safe. Nicole took in a deep breath, which she exhaled very slowly. She nodded her head once, and allowed herself to be led to the back of the bar. All the while, hearing the plaintive wail of the only person she would ever love.


	2. Chapter 2

It took every ounce of Wynonna Earp’s willpower not to run back into Shorty’s. You don’t leave people behind. Especially when that person is a friend who just sacrificed herself for your sister.

If Wynonna were honest with herself, though, Nicole was more than just a friend. Wynonna gave Nicole shit every chance she got, but she wasn’t blind. She knew how much Nicole and Waverly meant to each other. But here’s the thing… Nicole meant something to Wynonna too.

In her years of misdeeds and general fuckupery, Wynonna simply did not allow people to get close to her, and she sure as hell didn’t make the mistake of getting close to anyone. Well, Waverly was the exception to all of Wynonna’s rules. But now, it would seem, so was Nicole. Nicole was – is – family. The weight of her actions slammed into her chest, nearly taking her breath away. Wynonna had abandoned that family to a bar full of revenants. And Bobo Del Ray.

Just as Wynonna was about to cut a U-turn, on the road leading to the Earp homestead, Waverly coughed out another sob. Waverly. Wynonna closed her eyes briefly and took a sobering breath. She would keep her sister safe. She hadn’t needed to make a promise to Nicole for that to be true.

“Waves -”

“Stop. Just… please stop.” Waverly’s voice hitched, but she continued, “We left her, Wynonna. You know what Bobo’s capable of, but we left her there anyway.”

“Waverly, I had to get you out of there. Nicole wanted -”

“What about what I wanted!” Waverly’s voice shook, not with grief, but with anger. “Don’t you get it?! I love her, Wyn. If I’d known she was gonna pull that goddamned hero shit I wouldn’t have let Bobo hand me over. I would have stayed, if it meant both of you got to leave.”

Wynonna didn’t even realize they’d pulled up to the homestead, much less that she’d parked her truck and let the engine die.

“Waverly, I’m so, so sorry.” Wynonna looked at her sister, but couldn’t see her expression because the darkness in the cab of the truck was nearly complete. Waverly’s only reply was to open the passenger door and slide from the seat, before closing the door on the chasm that was building between the Earp sisters.

******

Wynonna closed the front door to the house and called out to her sister, but Waverly didn’t answer. She had to think. How was she going to get Nicole away from Bobo and not get them both killed in the process?

She paced the length of the living room, mentally developing and discounting plans. Waverly was the smart one in the family. Wynonna’s idea of a plan was to bust through a door and worry about the consequences later. She’d been lucky at Shorty’s, and she wasn’t too proud to admit that her luck had hinged on Nicole trading places with Waverly. And why the hell had Bobo gone along with it? He had to know that Waverly would always come first to Wynonna. Waverly was his ticket to getting whatever he wanted, so why let Nicole take her place?

“Jesus. My brain can’t take all this shit.” Wynonna said aloud, but as she walked to the kitchen to find some liquid absolution, she noticed the kitchen door to the back porch was ajar.

Time stopped.

All Wynonna could hear was the blood pounding against her eardrums, as her adrenalin squeezed her throat shut. Someone had broken in while she was gone. Were they still in the house? Why was it so damn quiet? Waverly was pissed and she wasn’t known to be a quiet little angry person. But there was no noise in the house, save the beating of Wynonna’s heart.

It couldn’t be a revenant. And that was the thought that propelled her forward, because the last time non-revenants came onto the homestead, Waverly was nearly killed. Wynonna reached for peacemaker, but her holster was empty.

“What the fuck?!” Wynonna hissed, but kept moving toward the stairs. She took them as quickly and quietly as she could. God it was too quiet.

As Wynonna approached Waverly’s bedroom door, she noticed something attached to her own bedroom door. It was a torn piece of Waverly’s stationary, and it bore her sisters hastily scrawled script.

Wyn,  
I love you, but I can’t leave her there. I have to do something. Peacemaker is just a gun, but Nicole is Nicole.

I hope you can forgive me.

Love always,  
Wav

“Goddamn it!” Wynonna screamed into the hollow silence surrounding her. She snatched the note from her door, and bolted down the stairs into the kitchen. Flinging the kitchen door open, Wynonna saw that Waverly’s Jeep was gone. Waverly was gone. Peacemaker was gone. Wynonna realized, then, that Waverly must have managed to pull peacemaker from its holster during the struggle to get her back to the truck.

Wynonna forced herself to move. She ran for the barn knowing that the fastest way back to Shorty’s was on her motorcycle. The ride would be frigid, but no colder than the ice settling around her heart. Her heart. Wynonna’s heart was heading straight into the devil’s den… probably already there, giving herself up to Bobo Del Ray.

******

The raucous sounds from the bar seemed to have picked up over the last few minutes. But Bobo was lost in the sensation of warm lips skimming his neck, stopping at his pulse point to suckle and nip. His mind wandered briefly, to who, or what, was in his basement. He’d experienced her type before. It was like skirting the edge of a winding mountain road, on the back of a powerful motorcycle. The torque vibrating his thighs reminding him of the speed at which danger could strike, but knowing the ride was worth the blow that would take him to the very edge of his mortality.

His past and present mingled together forming a euphoria that was unparalleled in its essence, until gunshots broke the spell binding him to the woman draped across his lap.

Bobo closed his eyes before unseating the half naked woman whose own lust-filled gaze barely registered the commotion. He half stalked, half sauntered from the bar’s office, past pool tables and groups of drunken revenants. As he rounded the bar he saw a group of men gathered in a semi-circle. Bobo shoved one aside and a spike of fear lanced his heart. There, on the beer soaked floor, lay Waverly Earp, barely conscious, her left hand pressed to her stomach.

“What did you do?” Bobo’s question went unanswered and he went into a rage. He rounded on the man closest to him, grabbing his face in both hands and twisting so hard that he severed the man’s spinal cord in a sickening snap.

“What. Happened. To. Her?” Each word was measured, and dripped venom.

“It was Carl, boss. She came in swinging that gun and Carl shot her.”

Bobo turned on Carl, in a motion that was both fast and deceivingly slow. It was as though time had warped in on itself. He squeezed his right hand around Carl’s windpipe and as Carl tried to speak, Bobo ripped the man’s throat from his neck, and he leaned in to whisper into his ear, “I will see you in hell. And when I get there, you better run.

“I told you pieces of shit she was untouchable!” Bobo screamed as he knelt beside the youngest Earp sister. He pulled Waverly’s hands from her stomach, as gently as possible, and could see that she was still breathing. Bobo grabbed a revenant who was trying to back away and pulled him to his knees.

“You press your hands into that wound. If she dies, I will drag you outside the boarder and stake you to a tree, myself.” Bobo knew there was only one chance to keep Waverly alive. He couldn’t give a damn about the Earp heir, but he would not let Waverly die.

******

Nicole’s eyes snapped open when she heard the gunshots. She realized two things, in rapid succession. One: she was still alive. Well, as alive as she was ever going to be. Two: she was shackled to the wall in roughly hewn iron manacles. Her feet were bound together by hemp-braided rope. At least the hemp didn’t scorch her skin, but it made her ankles and legs feel like they weighed a thousand pounds.

“Fuck me.” Of all the people in the world to discover her secret, it had to be Bobo Del Ray. Nicole closed her eyes and let her head bang against the cinder-block wall.

It could have been minutes, or hours, Nicole couldn’t be sure because the pain in her wrists was fogging her brain, but the basement door flew open and there stood Bobo himself. Although, Nicole had to admit, he looked… frightened. Well that’s curious.

“What’s the matter Bobo? Scared of a little girl chained to the wall?”

His only answer was to grab her left hand and shove the manacle up to reveal the burned and tender skin beneath.

“Is it true what they say about your kind?” Nicole glared at him. “Answer me, goddamn it! Is it true that you can save people?”

“My kind isn’t known for its altruistic behavior Bobo. Judging by the way you’ve trussed me up to the wall here, I’d wager you already knew that.”

“But under certain circumstances, you can give imortality.” Bobo’s breath was hot on her face, but instead of turning away from him, she looked him in the eye.

“Immortality from my people isn’t something anyone would want. Besides, I’m not like most of my kind,” Nicole dropped her eyes as she whispered the last of her words.

“That’s what I’m counting on, half-breed,” before Nicole could muster any resistance, Bobo had her unbound and on her feet, with an iron bladed knife at her throat. The hiss of the blade against her skin was light, but it was enough for her to understand he had the power… for now.

******

The main floor of Shorty’s was silent, save a few whispers, and a voice that absolutely did not belong. Wynonna. Nicole held her tongue though, because it was always possible that Wynonna would have a plan. Not likely, but always possible. As Bobo led her through the bar, Nicole could see that several people were gathered near the front entrance.

“C’mon baby girl, open your eyes,” Wynonna’s voice cracked under the weight of her words. She’d entered the bar to a tableau of horror. Her baby sister was unconscious on the floor and there was a revenant hovering above her. And the blood… there was so much damn blood. How could one tiny person possibly hold that much blood?

Without any conscious thought, or recollection of how it had happened, Wynonna saw peacemaker grasped, loosely in Waverly’s right hand. She dove for the gun and drew down on the revenant who was trying, unsuccessfully to staunch of blood flow from Waverly’s stomach.

Peacemaker was holstered before the revenant was fully dispatched to hell, and Wynonna had replaced his hands with her own, to put as much pressure as she could on Waverly’s wound.

“Oh my god, there’s so much blood.”

“Wynonna, what are you doing here? No!!” Nicole yelled and tried to break free from Bobo, but the knife pressed deeper against her throat and a rivulet of blood trailed down her neck to pool at her collarbone. Held in place by the iron blade, Nicole allowed her tears to fall, her chest heaving to breathe air that had gone so stagnant, she was sure it would choke her.

Wynonna looked up and leveled peacemaker at Bobo, but realized Nicole was effectively being used as a shield.

“Uh huh, Wynonna. Put it away. Officer Haught can save your sister. Put the gun away and I’ll let her go, so she can help.”

“You expect me to trust you,” Wynonna seethed, but Nicole caught her attention and the look that passed between the two women, told Wynonna, her only option was to cooperate. If she cooperated, Waverly might live.

Without another word, Wynonna holstered peacemaker, again, and Bobo whispered into Nicole’s ear, “You save her, or I swear to you I will find your coven and tell them you gave your heart to a forbidden species.”

“If I can’t save her, Bobo, there won’t be a me for them to hunt.”

The blade slipped free of her throat and the invisible tether that pulled at Nicole, from the moment she saw Waverly’s unconscious form, tugged her forward until she was kneeling at her right side, across from Wynonna.

Given the amount of blood, Nicole knew they were already on borrowed time. Nicole inhaled deeply of the scents surrounding her. She could smell the stench of cowardly prey and her eyes began to glow amber. She could smell the abject terror pouring from Wynonna. It was a combination of horror and fear. And she could smell the very essence of the woman she loved. The tether binding them had become weaker. The pain of her canines lengthening was nothing compared to the anguish she was feeling at the connection to Waverly being drained from her.

Nicole tilted Waverly’s face, exposing the pale skin on the left side of her neck, while she sliced open the tender skin of her own inner left wrist. Everything had to be on the left side. With her own blood filling her mouth, Nicole bared her teeth before sinking them into Waverly’s carotid artery. Within moments, a symphony of metabolic changes would begin to occur. The blood bond she had just created would bind them together, in a way no human should ever be bound to another, but it would give Waverly what she needed to heal. And right now, that was all that mattered.

Nicole eased her mouth from Waverly’s neck and propped her up so she could slide in behind her. Nicole wanted to be able to hold Waverly, when the smaller woman began to come around. It was the best way she could think of to ground Waverly; to make her feel safe.

As they waited, Nicole couldn’t bring herself to look at Wynonna. She didn’t think she could bear to see the disgust she knew she’d find in the other woman’s eyes.

“What happens now?” Wynonna’s words were spoken so softly, she was certain she’d imagined them. Nicole looked up and was stunned into silence. Wynonna was regarding her with what she could only describe as hope.

“Waverly,” Nicole began, but had to stop to clear her throat, “Waverly, decides from here.” At Wynonna’s panicked look, Nicole hastened to continue, “She’ll survive Wynonna! But she decides what happens when she does. For my… people, the blood bond is typically a ritual that binds the host to their sire for life. If the host is fortunate, the ritual is voluntary.”

“For life?” Wynonna tried to measure her words very carefully, “but you said Waverly decides.”

“I’m a half-breed. I wasn’t sired; I was born. My father is a vampire, but my mother is a Seraphim.”

“Vampire? Holy shit, vampires are real?”

Nicole’s mouth gaped and she stared at Wynonna before saying, “Seriously? You use some mystical revolver to send demons to hell, and you’re gonna question the reality of vampires?”

“Fair enough.” The two women were quiet then, and they both seemed to realize at the same time, how quiet it was. They both looked around and realized the three of them were the only ones left in the bar. “Son of a bitch. The bastards bolted.”

“Can’t say as I blame them. Wyatt Earp’s heir and her fancy gun and a vampire/Seraphim mongrel.”

“Bobo knows about you?” Wynonna couldn’t help it, the thought of Bobo lording Nicole’s secret over her, got her hackles up.

“He does. He could tell what I was when he agreed to me switching places with Waverly. I’m sure he figured he could exploit me to his advantage,” Nicole said, her brow furrowed. “But what I don’t understand… when he came down to the basement to unshackle me, he wanted me to save Waverly.”

“What?”

“Yeah. He wanted me to save her. He didn’t want her to die. Not that I think he’s capable of it, but it didn’t seem to be a self-serving act, either. Hell, he even threatened go to my coven if I didn’t save her.”

“Coven??”

“Don’t…” Nicole warned. Wynonna smiled and put her hands up, as if in surrender.

“Ok, so you said what happens next is up to Waverly. What does that mean, exactly?”

Nicole took a deep breath and let it out slowly before placing a gentle kiss to the crown of Waverly’s head. “Because I’m a half-”

“Stop calling yourself a half-breed! You’re bi-whatever.”

Nicole smiled, dimples and all, “Ok… because I’m bi-whatever, I can perform a blood bond, but the host still has free will. When Waverly wakes up, she will either accept the bond, effectively making me her sire, or she rejects it.” The sadness that washed over Nicole’s face, prompted Wynonna to reach out and grab her forearm.

“Nic, what happens if she rejects it?”

“Oh no, don’t worry, she’ll be okay.”

“Then why do you look like you’ve just lost your best friend?”

“If she rejects the blood bond… I can’t survive after a rejected bond.”

“You’ll die? Well that’s some fucked up shit.”

“The alternative is she accepts it and becomes immortal. And a potential target of my coven. Either way, Wynonna, she’ll hate me.”

“Nicole, she loves you. Don’t you dare give up on her; she deserves better than that.”

“Who deserves better than what?” The groggy words caused both women to look down at Waverly, who was trying quite unsuccessfully to sit up. “Holy shit-balls my head hurts.”

Nicole pressed her lips to Waverly’s temple, “I know, baby. It’ll go away soon, I promise.”

Waverly sank back into the circle of Nicole’s protective embrace for a matter of moments, before her eyes popped open and she sprang forward. She struggled to turn herself around and fairly launched herself at Nicole.

Wynonna Earp wasn’t one to blush, but seeing her baby sister try to devour someone whole was beyond her capacity to handle. “Right, you two do that, I’m going to go get the Jeep. I think she accepts Nicole.”

“Mmmhmm,” was the best Nicole could offer, as she tried, not so valiantly, to extricate herself from Waverly’s roaming hands.

“You bet your sweet ass I accept.”

The End


End file.
